


Quiet Love

by peristeronic



Series: Victor and Victoria [1]
Category: Corpse Bride (2005)
Genre: Children, Established Relationship, F/M, In-Laws, Pregnancy, hand kissing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-25
Updated: 2018-10-25
Packaged: 2019-08-07 11:52:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16407995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peristeronic/pseuds/peristeronic
Summary: It was not what Victor’s or Victoria’s parents would recognize as marriage. Victoria was much happier this way.





	Quiet Love

They were two gangly young adults who grew up as friendless children. The fact that they were at least halfway to being in love when they were--eventually--married didn’t mean the first weeks of their marriage were not without awkwardness. But it wasn’t long before the shy, awkward silences became companionable silences. They greeted each other at the breakfast table with the smallest of “good mornings” and Victoria felt a rush of warmth in her chest. She sat down next to Mrs. Van Dort, who was complaining about the new carriage driver they had hired after Mayhew “just had to die at the most inconvenient moment,” her mouth full of toast and marmalade. Victor turned his face to Victoria in a wordless apology and she replied with a slight smile that said, “it’s fine.” They conversed like that, silently, throughout the meal, ignoring Victor’s parents. For the first time in their lives, each one felt that they had an ally.

They were two quiet people. But now they were husband and wife. They did not have to be alone. More often than not, the evening found them curled up in a pair of matching armchairs in front of the fire. Each one held the book they were reading in one hand. The other hands were clasped together in the space between their chairs. Victor’s thumb rubbed idly over the back of Victoria’s hand. It was not what Victor’s or Victoria’s parents would recognize as marriage. Victoria was much happier this way.

Other nights, they took turns reading out loud to each other. They burned through adventure stories and ghost stories. When they decided to read through Shakespeare, they divided the parts between themselves. 

“Not Romeo and Juliet, I think,” Victoria said delicately. She didn’t want to read about a young man killing himself for love. She pulled a dusty copy of Twelfth Night (intended to be looked at, not read) off the shelf instead and gave it to Victor.

They were both rotten actors, and Victor blushed and stammered when he messed up the words. Victoria couldn’t help but laugh.

“F-forgive me,” Victor said.

“Oh, I didn’t mean it like that,” Victoria said, sorry to have embarrassed him. She leaned forward and kissed him to apologize. She liked having an excuse to kiss him.

(On their wedding night, as they stared at each other, afraid to make the first move, she could hear her own pulse pounding in her ears, because she was no ethereal maid, and she decided that the best way to do something frightening was to do it as quick as one could. She rose up on her toes and planted a kiss on Victor’s lips. Startled at first, he leaned into the kiss and put his arms around her. The warm of his arms made Victoria sigh happily.)

After a couple of months, the married couple moved out of Victor’s parents’ house, to the relief of all parties. They bought a cottage that was well-furnished, but modest. They settled into a routine of piano lessons and reading, cake for tea and long walks on Sundays, with an occasional party invitation from their neighbors. At balls, Victoria wore a purple dress that her parents would have disapproved of, and Victor looked handsome in black.

At home, it was just the two of them, accompanied by Victoria’s loyal nurse and Victoria’s first Christmas present to Victor, Scraps II. Until more than a year into their marriage, that was no longer true.

Victoria put a hand on Victor’s shoulder as he sat at the piano and squeezed it before she said the words she had been practicing. “Victor. I’m pregnant.”

Much to Victoria’s surprise, he did not faint. Instead he got up from the piano bench so quickly he almost knocked it over and turned around to look at her, lips slightly parted. A look of joy kindled in his eyes. He took her hands and brought them to his lips.

“Are you pleased?” she whispered.

“I’m v-- very pleased,” he said.

She smiled and stepped close, laying her cheek against his chest. Tears caught in her eyelashes. He put his arms around her tiny waist.

The closer Victoria came to her confinement, the more anxious and excited Victor became. He alternately fussed over Victoria’s health and happily laid plans for their future son or daughter, suggesting names from their favorite books. He could only breathe freely when all the bloody parts were over with, and their daughter was soundly sleeping on Victoria’s chest. After much indecision, she was christened Viola Van Dort. A fanciful name, her maternal grandparents sniffed. A sickly-looking child, her paternal grandparents thought. But she was a healthy, happy baby. Holding her in one arm at the christening font, Victoria surreptitiously reached to find Victor’s hand. He laced his fingers through hers and squeezed. They entered a new chapter in their lives.

**Author's Note:**

> All the credit goes to Vaingloriousactor for the line "Much to Victoria’s surprise, he did not faint." Also any other headcanons I stole from him. Victor and Victoria don't name their kid Emily because why would you do that?? Who wants their kid to be named after their husband's ex?


End file.
